The Spectrum Centre, Inverness, 11 September 2007

Tara Hodgson in The Ballad (photo - Eamon McGoldrick).

THE BALLAD, a devised piece directed by Jonothan Campbell incorporating theatre, aerial work and dance, contains some amazing sequences. To take the traditional Scottish Ballad as a starting point and make movement the lyric is an inspired and interesting concept realised here by imaginative staging.

Encouraging an audience to free their imaginations and feel what is communicated through movement, image and music in the absence of words is satisfying theatre. However ultimately containing that performance within traditional narrative was disappointing.

The literal narrative of meeting, love, the birth of a child, the death of the mother seemed at odds with the complexity of human experience created by some of the most potent and affecting episodes during the performance. Although the narrative sequence was in keeping with the idea of traditional storytelling in ballad form, I would have expected more creative latitude from a contemporary piece of devised theatre.

Performers Tara Hodgson and Saul Garcia worked extremely well together from the subtlety, humour and awkwardness of their first meeting to the euphoria of love and desolation of loss. On a bare stage with only lighting and natural props of driftwood and stone the focus of an audience is on every minute movement and expression.

Like the staging, the live music was stripped-down piano; lyrical, spare and rhythmic in accordance with the emotional journey on stage. Kathryn Sawers performance and vocals were very much reminiscent of early Tori Amos recordings and (whilst I am a huge fan) this sounded more like imitation than art.

Movement Director Kally Lloyd–Jones and Aerial Designer Bruce Luckhurst have created some truly memorable sequences with ingenious use of aerial movement to convey the euphoric spiralling vortex of looking into the eyes of someone you love or the anger, distress and confusion of losing them.

Use of white cloth binding the two lovers together, enclosing them in a circle and then being transformed into scenes of bath, bed and shroud were very effective. Like the string attached to an imaginary kite on stage, we absolutely believe and feel what we see in spite of the theatrical illusion. To suspend our disbelief is part of the magic of live theatre and perhaps also of love.

‘The Ballad’ is an imaginatively staged, well performed piece of theatre, but like all great ballads the greatness of the performance lies with the interpretation. Although the production is notable for its lyricism and imagery, more risks could and should be taken in relation to interpretation of the narrative element.

Like Aye! Productions previous theatrical tour “Sealskin Trousers”, this production is filled with promise, great staging and fantastic imagery, and The Ballad is a more well rounded performance as a whole than Aye!’s previous work [the original production of the The Ballad is actually the earlier of the two works – Ed].

However I feel that the next step for this company is to go beyond effects of staging and affect the audience long after they’ve left the theatre. I have no doubt that when they reach that height in future productions it will be nothing short of spectacular.

© Georgina Coburn, 2007

Links

• Aye! Productions